My sign collection began one day on a hike through some particularly strange woods with my brother. This was not the day that I found my first sign, but it was the day that I began collecting them. For me, each sign I add to my collection has a story, and the first one is definitely the strangest if not the best one.
It was one of those warm days toward the end of the summer when it feels like time is rotting away. School is about to start and unless you use every second you have, the time will go sour. I woke up and had a goal in mind. My brother and I had planned a hike through the woods a few miles away. The woods we would be hiking in were known for the abandoned vehicles that litter the forest floor like dead dinosaur carcasses. Legend has it that the woods are haunted by the ghosts miners who died beneath the forest floor. My brother and I however did not believe any of this and just expected to have a cool not so urban exploring trip.
When we arrived at the trailhead, we got out the map, plotted a course and set out on the trail. The blazing was terrible and the trail kept forking and taking sharp turns. Sections of trail would fade away and we would have to guess where it went. As we made it higher and higher up the mountain, the ruins of some sort of building could be seen in the distance. In some sort of unspoken awareness, we each knew what the other was thinking. We needed to check it out. When we got to the ruins we took some pictures, explored, and found a metal sign that read “WARNING! Radio Frequency Fields at this Site may Exceed Federal Safe Limits for Human Exposure”. I needed the sign. I tried to pry it off of the rubble, but it was secured by plastic strips to the collapsed chain link fence. After about 5 minutes of struggling to free the sign, we gave up. Maybe next time we thought. As my brother and I walked down the Mountain about a tenth of a mile into our return trip, we encountered two girls on the trail. One was carrying a huge steak knife. I instantly saw an opportunity. The knife would easily free the sign. I quickly introduced myself and even though it was a strange question, I asked to borrow the knife. I probably should have questioned why these girls were carrying a huge steak knife, but instead I asked to borrow it. “Why should we trust you to return it”, “why should we lend it to you”, they asked. “If you just trust me I’ll get you something cool I said”. I didn’t have much of a plan, but everything had worked out so far. The said yes and my brother and I quickly ran back t the sign. The knife cut through the plastic like butter and I saw another identical sign adjacent to the first. I cut this one of as well and returned it along with the knife and the girls thought it was awesome. We completed the hike and walked back to the car with the sign. This was a sign that I should start a collection, I thought. The sign would look great on my wall.
Since then, I have collected 6 signs. Each has a unique story and I plan to add new ones to the collection. Maybe I’ll find one on my road trip this summer. As long as the sign has a story, I’ll take it.
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--Aaron